The are my reflections prior to Christmas 2010, and my hopes for 2011. 

 Early Christmas Morning

What do I want under my Christmas tree this year? Well, the list is pretty long. The thought that my wishes will not be granted is something that does not deter me from having them. I am like that.

 Christmas Morning Sun Begins To Rise

I have bundled the house up against this horrendous chill that is present tonight. A few snowflakes have fallen and managed to put an icing on an already frosted land. I pulled the velvet drapes shut, before that I pulled down the shades. I even put down the cranberry silk roman shades over the alcove windows, including the stained glass. It is just too cold.

I have run around and put blankets in strategic places, I have kept the warmth in as best I can. Yesterday I made cookies and threw in some chopped pecans, a half a chunk of cream cheese and wondered if they might be good. Very good, so good in fact I had to put them in the big freezer so I would not eat them all before the holiday. I will bake more.

 Presents

I will still wish for wishes that are not likely to come true. I put foremost on my list, peace. That is important. I want everyone to settle down, get their tummies full and snooze for a while. I want them to wake up, lay down their arms permanently and start living like the world is their family, not their enemy, to be fought.

I would like the world to become more of a caring family, one that rests better knowing we all have our needs met, like food, housing, safety, medical care.

I would like all the bad children to be taught to be good. I mean if you cannot treat women, gays and disabled people, the elderly and all those different from you like you want to be treated, well, you are just going to have to stand in the corner until you can prove to me that you can behave and you actually want to.

Santa's Place 

Over ten years ago I got started in politics calling the bluff of a sitting representative on a housing bill in Illinois. It got passed eventually, but not without a lot of grief. I put myself on the line for gay rights, abortion rights, human rights. I have never regretted any of it.

There was a debate amongst the candidates and one of them got up and pontificated about how they needed a doctor in Springfield. He was a doctor. He went on and on about how much difference that would make, how he would be able to make a difference. I got up and said they needed a mother in Springfield, someone to teach them how to work together, to share power, to get the tasks before them done, who would not tolerate waste, bad behavior, institutionalized attitudes that somehow the representatives of the people did not have to answer to the people. I got the rousing applause. I am telling you this so that you know that I had my reward in many ways for all I fought for. There were victories; some took a lot of time.

Santa's Note for Us 

So underneath that tree I also want to find more victories for the people. I want them to experience the goodness of this country once again, the bounty of it and the fairness of it. My wishes are no less important than the people who seek the destruction of some in our country, the people who are not like them, who are different. They are not the people who are losing everything, who have lost their homes, their jobs, who are sick and cannot get well because the healthcare system remains out of their reach. The rules seem to affect only those who are too weak to fight them. Tonight I bundled myself up against the cold indifference of some Americans, who rather than play fair, play only to win. At what cost?

Perhaps next year will be different; perhaps next year will be the first year of the new nation, one where nobody gets the coal in their stocking for being bad. I may stock up, just in case it is the same ol’, same ol’. When I toast the New Year tonight, I will wish for the good things for all of us, oh, and PEACE.

Copyright 2010 by SheilaTGTG55 Words & Pictures